Category Archives: Labor

At A Loss For Words

As we close out 2016 we find ourselves at a loss for words…so much is turned upside down and inside out. What more can be said that hasn’t already been said by prophetic voices in the recent and not-so-recent past. We defer to the wisdom voices we have talked to or featured since this journey began in hopes they keep you inspired in 2017. Continue reading

Posted in Campaign Finance Reform, Democracy, Labor, Thoughts on Life | Comments Off on At A Loss For Words

Labor’s Defiant Lady: Remembering Mother Jones

On Labor Day 2015 we take a look back at the great Mother Jones, who spent most of her life as a union organizer working side-by-side with striking miners, steel workers, and children. It is through efforts of this great woman — and others — that a great American Middle Class was born. Things like the 8-hour work day, the 40-hour work week, and child labor laws didn’t “just happen.” It took literally, blood, sweat, and tears to win what now appears to be slipping away from us again in the 21st Century. Labor Day — a time to remember workers. Continue reading

Posted in Labor, Progressive Profiles, Social Justice, Unions | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Labor’s Defiant Lady: Remembering Mother Jones

July 4, 2015: We Are Once Again Called To Reclaim Our Democracy

A great Jesuit once asked, “Where is it we think our dead have gone? Do we think they remain buried in the ground, or is their spirit alive with us today?” There can be little argument that Bernie Sanders’ stop in Madison, Wisconsin on July 1, 2015 reverberates with the message of “Fighting Bob” La Follette and his speech from July 4, 1897. Continue reading

Posted in Campaign Finance Reform, Citizens United, Democracy, Fighting Bob LaFollette, Labor, Wisconsin Politics | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on July 4, 2015: We Are Once Again Called To Reclaim Our Democracy

Fighting For Single Payer: Rose Roach Keeps Hope Alive For A Better Way For Health Care In The U.S.

No matter what the U.S. Supreme Court decides about the Affordable Care Act, the fight for a single payer health care delivery system in this country continues. Health care as a human right. For profit insurers out of health care. “There are plenty of health care dollars,” Minnesota Nurses Association Executive Director Rose Roach tells us. “It’s a matter of allocating them to actual health care.” Read more about how Roach continues the push for single payer to bring our country in line with the rest of the educated world. Continue reading

Posted in Labor, Progressive Profiles, Single Payer-Health Care Reform, Social Justice, Unions | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Fighting For Single Payer: Rose Roach Keeps Hope Alive For A Better Way For Health Care In The U.S.

Bernie Buzz: Sanders Will Re-Frame Our Political Conversations

Sen. Bernie Sanders’ announcement that he is seeking the Democratic Party’s 2016 Presidential nomination means that We The People now have a voice working to reframe the issues of our day and to remind us that democracy belongs to all of us not just the billionaire class. Continue reading

Posted in Campaign Finance Reform, Citizens United, Democracy, Labor, Social Justice, Thoughts on Life | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Bernie Buzz: Sanders Will Re-Frame Our Political Conversations

From The Ashes…Remembering A Teacher’s Hope

Why on a day when the State of Wisconsin is implementing Right to Work legislation just weeks after gutting public education would I have been rummaging through old documents and found the following hand-written notation from my father, a proud … Continue reading

Posted in Labor, Social Justice, Thoughts on Life, Unions, Wisconsin Politics | Tagged , , | Comments Off on From The Ashes…Remembering A Teacher’s Hope

The Grass Roots Fight For A Living Wage

Jennifer Epps-Addison, Executive Director of Wisconsin Jobs Now offers hope for a future that includes a “living wage” for U.S. workers. “The challenge is to help everyday people have their voices heard because unfettered, unlimited money in politics has really corrupted the idea of one person/one vote and every voice counting.” We dare you to find just one “favorite quote” from this remarkable activist working to make the world a better place. Continue reading

Posted in Citizens United, Democracy, Labor, Social Justice, Speakout For Good Jobs Now, Wisdom Voices Spotlight | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on The Grass Roots Fight For A Living Wage

Cesar Chavez: Movie Helps Remind Us Of Our Proud Progressive Past

With the release of the movie “Cesar Chavez” on March 28, we have the chance to recount the great progressive lives that shaped the better parts of our American history. When we forget these great progressives who fought for economic and social justice we lose the heart and soul of who we are as a people and a nation. Continue reading

Posted in Democracy, Labor, Peace, Thoughts on Life | Comments Off on Cesar Chavez: Movie Helps Remind Us Of Our Proud Progressive Past

The Continual Struggle For A ‘Living Wage’

The struggle continues today to bring “A Living Wage” to workers. In 1906 John Ryan became a strong and ardent advocate for a living wage and distributive justice. If he were alive today, his deeply researched writing could be tweeted simply: @Living Wage. Greed benefits no one. Read more about this passionate progressive who fought off those of our last Gilded Age. Our November Progressive Profile: Rev. John Ryan. Continue reading

Posted in Labor, Progressive Profiles, Unions | Tagged , , | Comments Off on The Continual Struggle For A ‘Living Wage’

An Attorney For The Damned

In the first “Gilded Age” in American history, one lawyer stood up to fight for the people. Known as the “attorney for the damned,” Clarence Darrow built a reputation for himself as a friend of labor and of the downtrodden. His oratory and his philosophy made him known to millions. Find out more about this complex and controversial man, who is our May Progressive Profile. Continue reading

Posted in Democracy, Labor, Progressive Profiles, Social Justice | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on An Attorney For The Damned